Posted on 01/30/2002 3:41:41 PM PST by anniegetyourgun
SEATTLE - NBC News is reporting that the Space Needle in Seattle - a high-profile landmark in America's Pacific Northwest - was apparently a target for al-Qaida terrorists.
U.S. officials tell NBC News evidence found in Afghanistan uncovered plans to attack the high-profile Space Needle along with other monuments in Washington State, including massive hydroelectric dams, like the Grand Coulee.
According to the NBC News report, plans were also found that targeted the Los Angeles International Airport for a second time. An earlier plot to bomb the airport was foiled two years ago when convicted terrorist Ahmed Ressam was arrested crossing the border into the U.S. at Port Angeles, Washington.
NBC News added U.S. officials report American troops in Afghanistan have recovered designs and diagrams that target U.S. nuclear power plants and water facilities and surveillance photos of U.S. monuments and landmarks.
One plot apparently included an attack on the U.S. mint in Philadelphia.
President Bush revealed the deadly terrorist plots during his State of the Union speech Tuesday night.
The Grand Coulee Dam holds back 421 billion cubic feet of water "We have seen the depth of our enemies' hatred in video where they laugh about the loss of innocent life. And the depth of their hatred is equaled by the madness of the destruction they design,” said Bush.
Algerian Ahmed Ressam, 34, was arrested in December of 1999 when he tried to cross the U.S-Canadian border at Port Angeles, Washington, with explosives in the trunk of his car. An investigation into his arrest uncovered a terrorist plot that targeted Los Angeles International Airport and implicated that the Space Needle as a potential target.
The incident incited a terrorism scare that prompted then Seattle Mayor Paul Schell to cancel the Space Needle New Years millennium celebrations at the Seattle Center, which drew as many as 40,000 people to its New Year's Eve party - one of the best turnouts ever.
After Ressam’s arrest, many questioned whether the Space Needle was a bonafide terrorist target. The evidence uncovered in Afghanistan now lends to some credence that the Space Needle was indeed a target.
Ressam was brought to trial and convicted in April of 2001. In an effort to reduce his 130-year prison term for his part in the terrorist plot, Ressam cooperated with authorities by providing crucial information about Zacarias Massaoui, the only person indicted in the September 11th attacks.
Ressam has told the FBI that he saw Moussaoui at a training camp they both attended a few years ago, the law enforcement official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, is charged with conspiracy to murder thousands in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks.
Remember them finding those explosives in that locker at the Train Station in downtown Philly.....it makes sense now!
Not to make a joke of it, but al-Queda could have just waited for the lib/Dems in this state to breach the dams. They're always bucking to destroy farming in E. WA and "save the salmon." Idiots.
What is even more frightening is this is just what they have found in Afghanistan. What else is out there in the other terror states? It sure drives home the point that we have to stay heavy on offense.
If the Rats turn from their patriotic leaning, reflected last night, and start fighting defense dollars contained in the coming budget, it will be time for afterburner action.
Absolutely !!!
What kind of RAVING IDIOT says THAT!?!?!?! Are you out of your frikkin' mind?!?!?!?! They are NOT that way!!
They are EVIL?!?!? Go back to DU you low-life!!!
Oh.......wait.........your post was sarcasm. Never mind, you are being returned to regular programming.....
Are you sure......both wreak havoc on the citizens of this country.
However, I firmly believe that there are cells in this country made up of average-appearing Americans, much like John Walker and Richard Reid. I think that is why we have so many alerts, and why we haven't simply rounded up the Arabic types. It would do no good.
If I were a terrorist organization with lots of money, I would fund all sorts of fringe groups that could be prodded into wreaking havoc. I fiind it amazingly coincidental that the violence of PETA, ELF, and others has occurred during the last 6 years. I would almost bet cash money that bin Laden or his allies provide some of their funding.
So, profiling works in SOME cases. But that nice little granny that people feel sorry for may be carrying a bomb, unknowingly. What if her grandaughter married a guy from Yemen? What if her grandson is looking both to collect an inheritance and blow up a plane?
You see what I am thinking. I think we need to be suspicious of ACTIVITY, rather than individuals, not because I am PC, but because I think if we fall into the profiling trap we might get burned, big time.
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